When can facing one of the world’s premiere teams be a bad thing, getting a chance to play the likes of Juventus’ Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet and Diego be more trouble than it’s worth?

When you’re the Red Bulls, a threadbare team stretched thin by mounting injuries and an overwhelming schedule. Today’s friendly (1 p.m., FSC) is their eighth of a dozen games crammed into just 42 days, and they sure look like a tired team coming into their clash with the Serie A power.

Thursday’s 3-1 loss to Columbus, their third straight MLS defeat — interrupted only by a U.S. Open Cup play-in win over New England — came with Joel Lindpere, Salou Ibrahim, Carl Robinson and Brian Nielsen all sidelined, and dropped them out of the Eastern Conference lead for the first time all season.